News - DVD Conversions

Blackmagic Micro Converter Support Brace

As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. After a fairly exhaustive search online for a Blackmagic micro converter support brace and not being able to find a suitable solution, we decided to design and 3D print a solution for ourselves.

The Blackmagic Range of micro converters are great pieces of kit but the sockets for HDMI and Power are not designed with live shows and events in mind. The power plug in particular is a weak point (in my opinion).

Whilst the BNC SDI connectors are strong enough for day to day use the HDMI and power sockets are a little on the weak side, so a simple yet effective solution was called for.

Blackmagic Micro Converter Cable Brace for preventing damage to the HDMI and power cables on this series of converters — Blackmagic Micro Converter Cable Brace Front

So to prevent damage to the sockets and to prevent cables from being disconnected during pack in and out of shows, we designed (in-house) a simple plastic brace that can be cable tied to a micro converter and it’s associated cables.

Our Blackmagic micro converter support brace provides much needed support for both the HDMI and Power cables. The brace has cable tie points for both the HDMI and power cables. There are also multiple mount points on the perimeter of the bracket to allow for attaching to truss sections or other support structures.

Blackmagic Micro Converter Cable Brace prevents HDMI and power cables from being damaged or accidentally removed — Blackmagic Micro Converter Cable Brace

3D printed in-house from ABS plastic the brackets are strong and durable and are sure to prolong the life of the Blackmagic Micro Converters.

We have these brackets available in a range of colors and they sell for $25 NZD including GST excluding courier charges.

Blackmagic Cable Support — Blackmagic Cable Brace Back

If you’re interested in getting your hands on one of these hit the contact button or go to our film supplies page for more information on this and other products we sell, including:

Custom made film reels for standard 8mm film and Super 8 film
Film Splicing Tape
Kodak Super 8 film – 50D, 200T and 500T
Cassette casings

Super 8 film reels

DVD Conversions Limited New Zealand is pleased to announce that we are now manufacturing a range of film reels for standard 8 film and Super 8 film.

Proudly New Zealand made, our film reels are designed and assembled in-house. We 3D print our film reel hubs and dress rings in-house and use a local company to laser cut our aluminium reel sides.

These high quality reels are now available for sale to 8mm film enthusiasts the world over. We are constantly looking to improve our products and welcome your feedback or suggestions.

Super 8 film reel side view with laser cut cluminium sides and 3d printed ABS plastic hub — 400ft Super 8 film reel with laser cut aluminium sides and 3d printed hub

Our film reel hubs are printed using ABS plastic and are available in various colours.

Spindle adapter for Super 8 reels on Regular machines printed in 3d with yellow ABS plastic — Spindle adapter for Super 8 reels

We have designed and 3D printed our own range of hub / spindle adapters which allow our film reels to be used on standard 8 projection equipment.

We’re currently working on a 200ft reel and a 600ft reel, soon to be released to the market. Watch this space as we continue to expand our product lines.

Current pricing for 8mm film reels as at 4 April 2019

400ft Super 8 film reel – $30
Spindle / hub adapter – $5

For more information on these and other products in our range please go to our film supplies page

Kodak Vision 3 Super 8 film
Super 8 film leaders
Standard 8 film leaders
16mm film leaders
Film splicing tape
Film reels from 50ft to 600ft

All prices in $NZ and include GST.

Shipping within NZ – $10 for overnight signature required delivery

For orders outside of New Zealand please contact us and we will quote accordingly.

Mini DVD

A fairly popular format developed in between tape and solid state formats.

Some would say it was an awkward format as the DVD’s only have a 1.4GB capacity which only allowed for 30 minutes of recording in MPEG 2 format. Double sided DVD’s where available which in effect doubled the available recording time.

DVD compatibility was one of it’s main selling features in that the mini DVD’s could be played back on a standard DVD player, provided the mini DVD’s were finalized prior to removal from the camera. This is where things went wrong.

Many people did not finalize the discs and as such the recordings were never “closed” or finalized. This meant that the discs would not play in a standard DVD player, they will only play back in the camera. Now many years on the camcorders are no longer available and the discs are gathering dust on a shelf. When inserted into a computers DVD drive, the DVD shows as “blank”. This is generally not the case, the files are just hidden deep in the sectors of the mini DVD.

All is not lost! DVD Conversions Limited have commercial grade data recovery software which can retrieve these “lost’ recordings and can convert them to digital files such as MP4, AVI or QuickTime.

If you have mini DVD’s we can assess and advise accordingly, no recovery – no fee.

If you want to convert Mini DVD to Digital Files click here

Transferring Film

What’s the best method for transferring film?

In this post we will discuss the different methods of converting film and touch on some of their disadvantages.

There are basically 3 different methods of film transfer.

Point and Shoot
Telecine
Frame scanning

Point and Shoot

The point and shoot method is the most basic. This method involved setting up a projector and screen and filming the image directly from the screen. This is a very clumsy method as it’s near impossible to get the camera and projector correctly aligned, and due to variations in frame rate between film (24fps or less) and video (25fps for PAL and 30fps for NTSC) it is likely that there will be black bars scrolling through the picture. This phenomenon is caused by the stroboscopic effect or differences in speed between the projector shutter and camera shutter speeds. Some video cameras (generally the semi pro cameras) have the ability to adjust the shutter speed which minimized this problem. A lot of resolution is lost using this method.

Telecine

The Telecine method is similar in concept to the point and shoot method. The major difference being that the camera and projector are aligned in such a way that the projector projects directly into the lens of the camera. A series of lenses invert the image. There are similar issues to the point and shoot method in that there are speed differences between the two devices and this also leads to black bars and incorrect film speeds. Resolution is slightly higher than the point and shoot method depending on what camera or imaging device is used.

Frame Scanning

The frame scanning method is by far the best option when compared to the above. Frame scanners scan each individual frame and the accompanying software reconstructs the individual frames into a video clip. This method allows you to output a file at the frame rate the film was initially shot at and also totally eliminates the stroboscopic effect. There are numerous other advantages to frame scanning as the film is transported through the machine by direct drive servo motors, there is no other mechanical handling of the film, no claws or sprockets which could damage the film. In addition a cold light source (LED) eliminates the risk of burn through.

DVD Conversions specialize in frame by frame scanning of the following film formats.

Regular 8 Film.
Super 8 Film.
9.5mm Film.
16mm Film.

There are a lot of film scanners available however very few can scan at Full HD (1920 x 1080P). Our scanner scans film at 1920 x 1080 and outputs files up to 1080P resolution.

We can offer file types such as

HDMP4
HD QuickTime
Image sequence files.

More information can be found by going to this page. Film Scanning in Full HD

Watch this short video for a demo on our frame scanner.

Below are some samples of film scanned on our full HD frame scanner.

Contact DVD Conversions to discuss your film transfer.

Tape cleaning

Video cassettes are prone to developing mold if not stored correctly. Moisture is video tape’s number 1 enemy. If you have cassettes that look something like this, it’s time to act quick and get them transferred to DVD or digital files. Here’s a brief insight into our tape cleaning process.

VHS Cassette with mold — A moldy VHS cassette

Mold on a 8mm cassette — A moldy 8 mm cassette

VHS Tape is a lot more forgiving than 8mm video or Mini DV. The relative tape thickness is the difference. Once mold has developed on the edges of the tape it soon makes it’s way between the layers of tape which results in the layers sticking together. The edges of the tape also stick together and cause the tape to shred into pieces. So whats the fix for this problem. VHS cassette cleaners where available in the day, however, their success rate was less than desirable as the mold was removed from the tape but for the most part remained in the casing. A more intense cleaning method is required to remove dirt and mold from the tape and cassette casing.

We use a range of cassette cleaning tools, jigs and techniques developed over 30 years of experience.

8mm Video cassette cleaning jig — 8mm Video cassette cleaning Jig

Panasonic NVB45 tape splicing jig — Panasonic Tape Splicing Jig

Our methods involve opening the cassette and removing the take up or supply reel and manually winding the tape under tension to gently unwind each layer. Soft cleaning pads gently remove excess mold and dirt. We then clean the inside of the casing and reassemble. We do not use any solvents or chemicals in our cleaning process, we use a dry cleaning technique. In severe cases we bake the cassette under constant temperature and humidity levels, removing excess moisture. Damaged sections of the tape are removed and the tape spliced. Magnetic tape can be spliced contrary to popular belief, provided you use the correct splicing films and ensure the splice has the overlap running with head rotational direction.

Below is a sample of a typical before and after.

8mm tape cleaning — 8mm Video / Hi8 cassette after cleaning

8mm cassette before cleaning — 8mm Video / Hi8 before cleaning

Our success rate across all formats is in excess of 95%. In the worst cases some tape is lost. If we are transferring your tapes to DVD or digital files, cassette cleaning and repair is included. We only charge for cassette casings if required.

Some tips on tape storage.

Store upright, on the short or long edge of the tape.
Always rewind the tapes.
Always keep the cassette in it’s protective case. If you don’t have cases, use a paper envelope.
Store in a cool, dry place.
Store with silica gel sachets to remove moisture.

Contact DVD Conversions today to arrange your cassette transfer.

Video to DVD

Video to Digital

Blackmagic Micro Converter Support Brace

Super 8 film reels

Mini DVD

Transferring Film

What’s the best method for transferring film?

Point and Shoot

Telecine

Frame Scanning

Tape cleaning

Tape cleaning

Other Services

Corporate Video Production

More Information